New England Aquarium Visitor Experience Master Plan

| Boston, MA

Overview: Enabled by a grant from the Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS), the goal of this project was to develop a comprehensive Experience Master Plan for improving visitor interactions with the aquarium, across all touch points.

Process: BIA facilitated a series of workshops with aquarium staff to identify visitor issues and potential design responses. Out of over 200 issues identified as “important,” BIA was tasked with distilling and synthesizing these granular points into a “new vision for the aquarium.” The distillation of issues resulted in an Experience Master Plan with six primary focus areas:

Welcome > An exciting time awaits

Pre-Dive > A riveting sense of anticipation and orientation

Choreography > Rhythm and character of visitor experience

Underwater > Visitor journey beneath the surface

Observation/Action > Distinct platforms for observation and action

Discovery > Visitor initiated engagement

The Aquarium is now assessing priorities and determining a best course of action for the next steps in anticipation of their 50th anniversary, which arrives in 2019.